You’ve made a joke of our orders, NGT slams govts

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Monday slammed state governments for making a joke of its orders on diesel vehicles ban and the Central Pollution Control

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Monday slammed state governments for making a joke of its orders on diesel vehicles ban and the Central Pollution Control Board for submitting “half-baked” data.

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The green court directed 11 states to provide information on their most polluted cities and vehicle density in major cities by Tuesday, barring which bailable warrants will be issued against chief secretaries.

The tribunal will also hear the plea against the diesel vehicles ban in several states in the country.

“Every day you (states) say we want to seek instructions. We want a clear stand on ambient air quality, human population and vehicle density. If the states fail to produce the data by tomorrow, we will issue bailable warrants against the chief secretaries of all states. You have made a joke of our orders. Be prepared to face consequences now,” NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar said.

T he states that have to furnish the information are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and West Bengal among others. They have to inform the tribunal about the cities that have the worst ambient air quality, total number of vehicles along with their bifurcation (diesel/petrol) and the total population in each city.

The tribunal also scolded the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for submitting “halfbaked” data on the population and vehicle density in major cities across the country. The CPCB report had indicated that ambient air quality in most of the cities was beyond permissible standards.

“What kind of report is this? You (CPCB) have given us a half-baked data. We had asked you about vehicle density. How many vehicles are diesel and petrol? According to your report, Mumbai has a population of 11 lakh. This is the joke of the first category. Your report says Delhi has 245 vehicles per km. There are thousands of vehicles per km in the capital, what kind of report is this? Today, you can even see a Fiat car of 1960 on the road. People in Delhi still drive around in their Maruti 800,” Kumar said.